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Labour under Mr Kinnock was also ahead in 1986 and 1991, before being beaten by the Tories a year later.

The polls are certain to trigger fears in Labour ranks that the party is failing to 'seal the deal' with voters with a year until Mr Miliband tries to take power.

Polls at the weekend showed two-thirds of people backed Labour's policies on energy bills, railways and rent controls, but only 23 per cent think Mr Miliband is up to the job of being Prime Minister.

It is the first time the Tories have been ahead in the polls since before the disastrous 'omnishambles' budget in 2012

The rise in the Tory fortunes has come as the economic recovery gains pace, raising fears in the Labour party that their attacks on the cost of living could be eroded if voters start to feel better off

LABOUR IS ANTI-BUSINESS, WARNS PARTY'S FORMER TRADE MINISTER

Former Labour trade minister Lord Diby Jones today slammed the party for being anti-business.

Several senior Labour figures are worried about the party's reputation in the business community, after a series of attacks on banks, energy firms and house builders.

Speaking on the BBC's Daily Politics Lord Digby Jones, former Trade Minister, said: 'The Labour leadership is one of the least business friendly leaders of political parties I’ve seen for years.'

‘Ed Miliband has no plan and his only policies are the same old Labour solutions of more spending, more borrowing and more taxes.'

To counter the criticism, Mr Miliband today insisted he was better than Mr Cameron.

The Labour leader played down the significance of a set of polls which showed Conservatives establishing a lead over his party for the first time since George Osborne's 'omnishambles' budget more than two years ago.

Two surveys - an ICM poll for The Guardian and another carried out for Tory peer Lord Ashcroft - gave Mr Cameron's party a two-point lead, a year ahead of the 2015 general election.

Just days ahead of elections to English councils and the European Parliament on May 22, Mr Miliband insisted he was right to focus on the 'cost-of-living crisis' facing British families.

Despite positive economic figures over recent months, ordinary people were 'deeply discontented' with the way in which the country is being run, and feel that the benefits from growth have been skewed towards those at the top of society, he said.

Challenged over whether voters saw him as a potential prime minister, Mr Miliband told BBC1's Breakfast: 'My approach has been to talk consistently about the big questions our country faces and the biggest question of all that every country is wrestling with - are we going to be run for a few people at the top, with growing gaps between the richest and everybody else, or are ordinary people going to get a fair shot?

'I am going to keep talking consistently about that, because I think that is the biggest question our country faces.'

Asked if this approach would make him a better PM than Mr Cameron, the Labour leader said: 'It makes me more personally competent because I get what people are feeling and we can do something about it.

'The most important thing as a Prime Minister is to understand what people think and what you can do about it and to show the difference you can make to their lives, and that's what I will do, and solidity of belief and purpose.'

David Cameron and Boris Johnson celebrate winning a table football game yesterday, as the first poll emerged putting the Tories ahead

The ICM poll for the Guardian, released as US president Barack Obama's former campaign guru David Axelrod arrived in London to begin work with Mr Miliband's party, put the Conservatives on 33 per cent, with Labour sliding six points since April to 31 per cent, Ukip on 15 per cent - a four point gain since last month - and the Liberal Democrats up one point to 13 per cent.

Mr Miliband was given a net approval rating of minus 25, with 51 per cent of voters believing he is doing a bad job and just 26 per cent believing he is doing well. Mr Cameron enjoyed a dramatic improvement from the minus 15 rating he received 12 months ago, to plus two now, with 44 per cent of voters believing he is doing a good job, against 42 per cent who think he is doing badly.

The first in a series of weekly telephone surveys carried out for Lord Ashcroft put David Cameron's party on 34 per cent, two points ahead of Labour on 32 per cent, with the UK Independence Party third on 15 per cent and Liberal Democrats trailing on 9 per cent.

But Mr Miliband said: 'Polls go up and down. I've seen that over three and a half years in this job. I think what matters is talking about the bread and butter issues people face - energy prices, childcare, the NHS, how we can improve GP access, something Labour is leading the other parties on.

'We will talk about the issues that matter to people. We will focus on these questions. The people will make the decisions a week on Thursday and at the general election.'

Mr Miliband said he was 'very disappointed' at the Government's response to his high-profile announcement yesterday of a Labour promise to give all NHS patients access to a GP within 48 hours.

'They say doctors can't deliver it,' he said. 'They are writing off the idea that we can deliver appointments in 48 hours and so we are going to have to wait more than a week. That's not good enough. I'm determined we can make a difference.'